Self made percussion

for my latest track I needed some “body percussion” – finger snaps, skin rubs knes slabs and stuff. Quickest thing for me was just to record them with microphone and the throw them into Wavelab an Ableton later on.

During the course of doing this I came up with lots of ideas for home-made percussion sounds to ad this “special touch” to Your productions. Many of the following suggestions can be realised in seconds. With a little effort an tweaking You can produce impressive instruments. Here are a few simle ideas worth trying:

Body Percussion

Hand claps

Hand rubs

Finger snaps

Foot stomps

Foot shuffles

Knee or thigh slaps

Chest, tummy, and shoulder slaps

Tongue clicks

Finger flicks against a cheek

Drumsticks
(Different drumsticks or beaters will give the same “instrument” many different sounds)

Hands, fingers, thumbsSticks,

pens, pencils, rulers

Short lengths of dowel or bamboo

For a “brushed percussion” sound, use a kitchen basting brush, a scrubbing brush, a large, stiff paint brush, or wire brush

Spoons

Beaters
(Secure one of the following onto the end of a stick, a pencil, or a short length of 1/2″ dowel)

cork

large wooden bead

wrap many rubber bands around one end of the stick

rubber ball or “superball”

wrap one end of the stick, or wrap the bead or ball, with yarn or string

wrap felt or cloth around the end of the stick, or around the bead or ball

Drums

empty plastic milk jugs

upside-down pails, buckets, basins, or large cans

empty plastic tubs (like margarine or ice cream tubs) with the lids on – usually, the bigger the tub, the better.

lid or bottom (or both) of a large, empty coffee can

a sheet of canvas, plastic, plastic wrap, plastic bag, rubber, wrapping paper, waxed paper, or poster board stretched very taut over the lip of a wooden bowl or a clay flowerpot, held in place by strong tape, heavy rubber bands, or strong cord. Most “drums” made in this way will be much more delicate than real drums

the bottom of an empty cylindrical oatmeal box

don’t forget the traditional favorite: pots and pans

Fillers for Shakers
(different fillers can make very different sounds. Some will last better than others, and some will be messier to work with than others. You may want to seal your shakers once you have made them)

dry rice, noodles, or beans

unpopped popcorn

beads or sequins of any size (different sizes and kinds will make different sounds)

nuts or seeds

pebbles

sand or salt

bottle caps (If you can make holes in the bottle caps you can also string them together to make rattles or tambourines.)

Containers for shakers or maracas
(to turn your shaker into a maraca, make a hole in the container, put a stick, pencil, or short length of 1/2″ dowel into the hole, and tape it together)

paper bag or plastic bag

plastic Easter egg

empty plastic tubs with lids

dried gourd – very authentic and easy to grow in many places

hollow balls, for example tennis balls and plastic “softballs” – you’ll have to make a hole in them to fill them; so you might as well make maracas

some seed pods come already filled with dried seeds and make great shakers

make your own with papier-mache.

Cymbals, Gongs, Bells and Triangles
(the trick to getting a good sound out of these instruments is to let them vibrate freely. Don’t touch the part that is supposed to “ring” with your fingers or anything soft. Hold it by a handle, hang it from a piece of string [make a hole in the object, or tape the string to it], or set it on a hard surface)

metal bowls that are a single curved surface (with no extra rim on the bottom to steady them) make great gongs. Set them on a hard surface. For a really cool effect, try swirling a very small amount of water in the bowl and strike it while the water is still swirling.

a metal clothes hanger

trash can lids or pot lids

metal pie plate

hung flowerpots (use a soft beater )

the chimes from a windchime

hammer large nails to different depths in a piece of lumber. Use another large nail as a beater to strike the nails in the wood.

for home-made wood blocks or marimba, rest hardwood boards or pieces of bamboo of different lengths across two other pieces of lumber.

string jingle bells or bottle caps on yarn, ribbon, or string to make hand, ankle, or wrist jingles.

Guiros and Washboards
(these instruments are played by scraping a hard stick or beater across the corrugations)

heavy corrugated cardboard

wrap and glue heavy string around a short piece of 1″ dowel.

cheese grater

saw, file, whittle, or cut notches into a piece of dowel or 1X1 lumber, or a thick stick. Notch spacing should be on the order of 1/8″-1/4″.

sandpaper

Sticks and Clicks

stamping stick – A large, thick stick can be played by “stamping” it on the floor or in a bucket or basin

claves – Cut two short lengths of dowel, lumber, or sticks (about 1″ diameter, and about 6″ long) to beat against each other. Smooth, hard wood gives the best sound. Make the sound more resonant by holding one clave cupped lightly in one hand while hitting it with the other

play thick pieces of bamboo as you would claves, or hang them and play them like gongs.

pencils and wooden spoons can also be played like claves, but the sound will be much softer

finger castanets – tie one button onto the thumb, and another onto the middle finger. Or use the halves of a walnut shell or small metal jar lids

hand castanets – loosely hold two spoons close together, back-to-back, in one hand, and swing them against the other hand to make them click

2 Responses

This is an excellent list of sound makers and percussion making materials. I would like to use part of your list in an article geared toward children making their own drums, drum sticks, and drum sets, as well as accompanying percussion. Your approach is very open, providing a lot of options and sounds to explore. A lot of sites about creating purcussion are limited, specific instruction oriented, and play down to the intelligence and creativity of kids and parents.